Stories FFVIII 100 LJ Challenge
by Dream-Silver-Haze
Summary: Drabbles based on LJ 100 Challenge Prompt. Any characters. Pre-game, in game and post game. Could be any kind of pairing or have no pairing at all. You never know what you might get!
1. Dreams

058. Dream

He was close enough to hear the sick slice of the ice crystals rip through Squall's chest, burrowing it's way swiftly through skin, muscle and possibly organs. He did not feel powerful or accomplished. Instead he only felt helpless, as if he were watching something that had already happened, something no one could stop.

It felt like eternity, standing powerlessly, watching as his rival, his comrade, his brother, fell slowly to his death. Rinoa reached out in vain as the blood began to ripple outward from the point of impact.

In that moment he felt as if his dream was pointless. This was not what he wanted. He wanted to be a Knight; he wanted to beat Squall. He didn't want him to die.

As Squall's body hurdled toward the ground, Seifer fell to his knees. _Your dreams, are our dreams._ She had promised. Now he thought that dreams were just another form of lies.


	2. Precious

010. Precious

"Come on Squall! Let me hold her!"

"Go away Zell or I _will _break your fingers," Squall replied, turning his back toward his crowd of friends, shielding the small bundle from Zell.

"Man, you let Quistis hold her!" Quistis shifted uncomfortably next to Zell. Rinoa snickered softly from her bed.

"It's true, Squall. You let both me and Quistis hold her," Selphie chimed in.

"That was different!" Squall growled over his shoulder.

Zell dropped his head in defeat. "Squall let Zell hold our daughter," Rinoa demanded.

Reluctantly, Squall turned to face his friends and the mother of his child. He glared at Zell for a brief moment then handed his daughter to Rinoa. She smiled knowingly, cuddling her baby close then turning to Zell. He reached out enthusiastically, but before he could arrange his arms around the baby Rinoa looked him straight in the eye and uttered, "If you drop her, I _will_ kill you."


	3. Letters

076. Letters

(The letter that didn't make it in time.)

Raine,

Oh gosh, I never know what to say in these things. No don't actually write that! Hyne this dictating thing is more complicated than I thought. Would you stop writ—

Dear Raine,

It's real busy here in Esthar. I hope Ellone made it home safe. Hopefully I'll be able to get out of here soon. I miss you both! Uhh see you soon?

Laguna

(The letter that got lost on the way to Esthar.)

Laguna,

I'm scared. I feel the end. I can feel it in my bones. I wish you were here. I hope you make it in time. I'm so terrified that I won't get to say goodbye and that I will never be able to hold our child. I don't know why I am so afraid. It's rare that women die in childbirth now a days, but still it's this horrific feeling I can't seem to shake. I hope Ellone is with you now. I love and miss you both.

Raine

(The letter given to Edea by Ellone, written by a resident of Winhill)

There is no one left for them now. His name is Squall Leonhart.


	4. Whitewash

073. Whitewash

"I can't believe you hate the snow Zell!" Selphie exclaimed with her hands on her hips.

It was one of those rare white winters in Balamb and Garden woke to a blanket of cool white much to Zell's disgust. He would have much rather have just stayed in bed all day, but unfortunately Selphie had dragged him along to help her make sure the younger cadets were following proper protocol despite the weather.

"Ughh. I can't believe you picked me to help you. Couldn't you have dragged Irvine along instead?"

"He's writing a mission report," Selphie replied as she spun around under the falling flakes. The students maneuvered around her cautiously. "You really hate it this much?" She asked Zell coming to a stop.

"Yeah. Don't really know why. Just as long as I could remember snow has made me nervous," Zell confessed.

"Hmm weird," she mused beginning to spin again. "Must have been something in your childhood."

For the briefest of seconds Zell thought he heard Seifer's voice: _Eat snow Snitch!_

He shook his head, "Yeah must have been."


	5. July

66. July

The heat was almost more than she could handle. All of her hair was shoved into a mass atop her head. She cringed as she felt a trickle of sweat running down her back. Still she was intrigued and she was never one to back away from an intriguing situation.

A week ago she had found one red rose waiting for her on her desk, with an anonymous note attached. The note had left a date and time, along with a name of a restaurant in Balamb.

Rinoa and Selphie had squealed with joy and envy when she had shown them the gift. She wasn't so much as impressed as fascinated. Of course there were books and movies with this sort of thing but never had she ever thought it would actually happen to anyone she knew, especially herself. She had scrutinized the handwriting, for the past week and concluded that it did not belong to any of her students, for which she was grateful. That was a situation she would like to avoid.

She tried to think of it as a puzzle she was trying to solve. Perhaps it was just a way of making sure she wasn't let down, or maybe a way to stay practical amidst the dangers of a runaway romance.

But it had been about twenty minutes and the heat was wilting the romance and her salad.

Another five minutes passed and she rose to leave. She took one last wistful look around the restaurant and then headed toward the door. Just as she placed her foot in the door she was knocked backwards.

"Oh! Quistis! I'm sorry, ya know!" a gruff voice boomed.

Quistis looked up dumbfounded. There in the door way stood Raijin, holding a red rose.

"Uhh—here you go!" He stuttered as he dropped the rose onto her lap and then turned out the door and ran.

Quistis merely sat on the floor, too stunned to move until the door greeter came and offered her a hand up. She muttered a quick thank you, absent-mindedly twirling the rose in her fingers.

_They're never going to believe this._ She thought as she headed out the door.

**Author's note:**

So I've been trying to get back in to the habit of writing. It's relaxing. Well one shots are anyways! I know a lot of this isn't my best writing but it's still nice to have something to work on and stretch my creative fingers! Thanks for reading!


	6. Loved

005. Loved

He'd always been the smallest, the loudest and the baby. Matron had always listened to his complaints and let him whine, snivel and cry, but it had often been accompanied with shouts at Seifer and Squall or only a quit nod while she returned to stir the pot on the stove top or some other chore that had to be done. The older he got the less likely he'd be able to capture her full attention, and when Cid came and visited it was usually only Seifer and Squall that got to go on fishing trips or monster patrol, while poor Zell was left alone with busy Matron, Irvine to busy chasing Selphie and Quistis in the yard.

He always knew he was loved, but he never really felt it. Not then, not until now, at this very moment when he'd fallen on the sidewalk trying to show his new mom his cool new high kick move he'd been working on. His knee was bleeding and he was crying and despite that he was seven and should have been a man about it, she stopped in the street and hugged him close, assuring him that it was just a little blood and he'd be alright. And for the first time he could ever remember, he felt safe and loved.


	7. Nowhere

054. Nowhere

Time compression was a tricky thing, all that time and influence pushing and pulling. Choices made years ago strung out in wide view in patterns showing their every consequence. It was enough to drive him mad. Images and voice swirled around and around.

A cowboy hat in the window of a store…

"What are you doing out here?"

A girl spinning around and around with her arms open toward the sky…

"It's just a signal…"

A blood red monster, teeth wide and stained with years of death hurling at his face…

"You could have died!"

A butterfly…

"Train, train take us away…"

Green eyes

"Get away from me!"

The moon.

"BANG!"

And it gets faster, until it's just words he can't quite hear and a blur of color. He is everywhere and he is nowhere. There is no up or down or left or right. Nowhere to stand, no way to fall… Faster and faster, spinning and then it stops.

Black, silence, and then he hears a voice, her voice. "Irvine? Irvy? Come back home. You promised."

And then he can feel his feet again; he's standing under the moon, on the beach. The sound of the waves calms him. When he turns, he sees her and he knows he is home.


End file.
